Series enlazadas de algunos agregados económicos nacionales y regionales, 1955-2007 Versión 2.1

I construct "homogeneous" series of GVA at current and constant prices, employment and population for the Spain and its regions covering the period 1955-2007. The series are obtained by linking the Regional Accounts of the National Statistical Institute with the series constructed by Julio Alcaide and his team for the BBVA Foundation. The "switching point" at which this last source stops being used as a reference to construct the linked series is determined using a procedure that allows me to estimate which of the two competing series would produce an estimator with the lowest MSE when it is used as dependent variable in a regression on an arbitrary independent variable. To the extent that it is possible, the difference between the two series found at the point of linkage is distributed between the initial levels of the older series and its subsequent growth using external estimates of the relevant variables at the beginning of the sample period.

Innovation sources and productivity in Catalonian firms: a quantile regression analysis

This paper explores the effects of two main sources of innovation - intramural and external R&D— on the productivity level in a sample of 3,267 Catalonian firms. The data set used is based on the official innovation survey of Catalonia which was a part of the Spanish sample of CIS4, covering the years 2002-2004. We compare empirical results by applying usual OLS and quantile regression techniques both in manufacturing and services industries. In quantile regression, results suggest different patterns at both innovation sources as we move across conditional quantiles. The elasticity of intramural R&D activities on productivity decreased when we move up the high productivity levels both in manufacturing and services sectors, while the effects of external R&D rise in high-technology industries but are more ambiguous in low-technology and knowledge-intensive services. JEL codes: O300, C100, O140 Keywords: Innovation sources, R&D, Productivity, Quantile Regression

Disentangling the Housing Satisfaction Puzzle: Does Homeownership Really Matter?

There is a general consensus that homeownership has beneficial effects for both individuals and society in many outcomes. However, research regarding the effect of homeownership on individuals' subjective well-being remains inconclusive. In this paper, for the first time, we provide empirical evidence for the link between homeownership and housing satisfaction using panel data. We use the eight waves of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP) covering the period 1994-2001. We observe that renters who become homeowners not only experience a significant increase in housing satisfaction, but also after changing their tenure status, they obtain a different utility from the same housing context. This evidence might provide support to the hypothesis that a share of the differences in the perceived utility derived from housing can be attributed to (un)fulfilled expectations or aspirations regarding homeownership. Keywords: Housing satisfaction, subjective well-being, homeownership, fixed-effects, housing aspirations JEL classification: D1, R2.

Implantació d'un ERP a un hospital públic

Aquest projecte tracta de la implantació del mòdul de Gestió dels Recursos Humans de la tecnologia SAP. En concret s’estudia la versió relativa al Sector Públic que aquest Software ofereix. Per tal de realitzar el Projecte ens fixem en un ens públic determinat com és un Hospital tenint en compte totes les peculiaritats que aquests organismes presenten. Part essencial del Projecte es dedica a la gestió del correcte pagament de la Nòmina i la representació de l’Estructura Organitzativa. Es cobreixen també tots els aspectes que les legislacions vigents imposen en aquests àmbits.

Epidémiologie clinique: définitions, utilités et raisons pour un développement en Suisse. [Clinical epidemiology: definitions, uses and reasons for development in Switzerland].

Clinical epidemiology is the most currently used name for a comparatively new branch of medicine covering a certain number of activities related to the practice of clinical medicine, but using epidemiological techniques and methods. Clinical epidemiology has only just begun to be known in Europe, whereas units are being increasingly developed and expanded in North America, particularly within the clinical departments of hospitals. The methods it offers are valid for both practicing physicians and hospital doctors (or those being trained in hospitals) and serve the purpose of promoting a better quality medical service, especially where a more adequate evaluation of the effectiveness of diagnostic methods, therapy and prognosis in medicine is concerned. Clinical epidemiology proposes a methodology of medical reasoning and of decision-making, as well as techniques intended to facilitate the indispensable task of keeping up with advances in medical knowledge.

The worldwide expansion of the Argentine ant

Aim The aim of this study was to determine the number of successful establishments of the invasive Argentine ant outside native range and to see whether introduced supercolonies have resulted from single or multiple introductions. We also compared the genetic diversity of native versus introduced supercolonies to assess the size of the propagules (i.e. the number of founding individuals) at the origin of the introduced supercolonies. Location Global. Methods We used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) markers and microsatellite loci to study 39 supercolonies of the Argentine ant Linepithema humile covering both the native (n = 25) and introduced range (n = 14). Results Data from three mitochondrial genes and 13 nuclear microsatellites suggest that the introduced supercolonies studied originated from at least seven founding events out of the native area in Argentina (primary introductions). The distribution of mtDNA haplotypes also suggests that supercolonies in the introduced range each derive from a single source supercolony and that one of these source supercolonies has been particularly successful, being the basis of many introduced populations spread across the world. Comparison of the genetic diversity of supercolonies based on the five most diverse loci also revealed that native and introduced supercolonies have greatly overlapping ranges of diversity, although the genetic diversity is on average less in introduced than in native supercolonies. Main conclusions Both primary introductions (from the native range) and secondary introductions (from sites with established invasive supercolonies) were important in the global expansion of the Argentine ant. In combination with the similar social organization of colonies in the native and introduced range, this indicates that invasiveness did not evolve recently as a unique and historically contingent event (e.g. reduction of genetic diversity) in this species. Rather, native L. humile supercolonies have characteristics that make them pre-adapted to invade new - and in particular disturbed - habitats when given the opportunity. These results have important implications with regard to possible strategies to be used to control invasive ants.

Gehring-Hayman theorem for conformal deformations

We study conformal deformations of a uniform space that satisfies the Ahlfors Q-regularity condition on balls of Whitney type. We verify the Gehring–Hayman Theorem by using a Whitney Covering of the space.

Cap a l'autosuficiència energètica: barri La Plana, Sitges

En el present estudi s’ha analitzat si és possible l’autosuficiència energètica al barri projectat de La Plana de Sitges a partir de fonts renovables d’energia. S’ha realitzat un anàlisi de l’oferta potencial del barri de La Plana, format per habitatges unifamiliars i plurifamiliars, serveis i equipaments i s’ha comparat el potencial de producció energètica dels recursos renovables locals a cada subsistema i pel sistema de La Plana. Diferenciant si són una Oferta estàndard (4.000 MWh/a) seguint la Normativa d’ecoeficiència de Sitges o bé una Oferta renovable (19.000 MWh/a) segons un Ecobarri proposat en aquest projecte a partir d’energia solar fotovoltaica i tèrmica. En l’estudi de la demanda, diferenciant entre una Demanda estàndard (39.000 MWh/a), respon al total de La Plana seguint el consum d’un habitatge tipus de la mitjana catalana (ICAEN, 2002) i una Demanda eficient (20.800 MWh/a) seguint un model de baix consum projectat en un Ecobarri de Barcelona. (Vallbona, 2009). Per analitzar de forma detallada les variables d’oferta i demanda, s’han proposat quatre escenaris diferents on es valoren l’autosuficiència energètica del sistema de la Plana i aspectes ambientals d’emissions derivades de la utilització de l’energia. El primer escenari és l’estàndard i és el resultat d’analitzar conjuntament una oferta i una demanda estàndard. Al segon escenari conflueixen una Oferta Estàndard i una Demanda Eficient. En el tercer escenari coincideixen una Oferta Renovable i una Demanda Estàndard. El quart i últim escenari respon a la proposta d’Ecobarri on l’Oferta és renovable i la Demanda eficient. Tanmateix, s’ha realitzat un estudi sobre els aspectes econòmics de La Plana que s’estimen en uns beneficis per la venda de l’energia d’uns 5 milions d’euros anuals i uns costos d’instal·lació de 80 milions d’euros. Finalment s’ha constatat que és possible assolir una autosuficiència del 90% a l’escenari Ecobarri (oferta renovable - demanda eficient). Mitjançant la instal·lació de sistemes de captació solar a les cobertes, cobrint el 100% de la demanda d’ACS, i captadors solars FV, ambdues estratègies són viables i representen beneficis econòmics i una reducció d’emissions de l’ordre de 13.700 Tn CO2 equivalents anuals que suposen un estalvi del 88% respecte un escenari d’oferta i demanda estàndard.

Series enlazadas de empleo asalariado y rentas del trabajo regionales (RegDat versión 2.2)

I construct "homogeneous" series of salaried employment, employee compensation and total labor income for Spain and its regions covering the period 1955-2008. I also estimate labor's share in regional and national GVA and construct an indicator of the average cost of labor including both employees and non-salaried workers.

Subtelomeric structure of Plasmodium falciparum chromosomes

Previous studies of subtelomeric regions in Plasmodium berghei led to the identification of subtelomeric repeats (2.3kb long) present in a variable number at many chromosomal ends. Both loss and increase in 2.3kb-repeat copy number are involved in chromosome-size polymorphisms. Subtelomeric losses leading to chromosome-size polymorphisms have been described by several authors in P.falciparum where the structure of subtelomeric regions is not known in detail. We therefore undertook their characterisation, by means of chromosome walking and jumping techniques, starting from the telomere-flanking sequence present in pPftel.1, the P.falciparum telomeric clone described by Vernick and McCutchan (1988). The results indicate that at least 20 (out of 28) chromosomal ends in P.falciparum 3D7 chromosomes share a subtelomeric region, about 40kb long, covering (but not limited to) the Rep20 region. Non repetitive, AT-rich portions flanking the Rep20 region on both sides are also conserved at most chromosomal ends.

Dynamics of phonological-phonetic encoding in word production: Evidence from diverging ERPs between stroke patients and controls.

While the dynamics of lexical-semantic and lexical-phonological encoding in word production have been investigated in several event-related potential (ERP) studies, the estimated time course of phonological-phonetic encoding is the result of rather indirect evidence. We investigated the dynamics of phonological-phonetic encoding combining ERP analyses covering the entire encoding process in picture naming and word reading tasks by comparing ERP modulations in eight brain-damaged speakers presenting impaired phonological-phonetic encoding relative to 16 healthy controls. ERPs diverged between groups in terms of local waveform amplitude and global topography at ∼400ms after stimulus onset in the picture naming task and at ∼320-350ms in word reading and sustained until 100ms before articulation onset. These divergences appeared in later time windows than those found in patients with underlying lexical-semantic and lexical-phonological impairment in previous studies, providing evidence that phonological-phonetic encoding is engaged around 400ms in picture naming and around 330ms in word reading.

A one-year monitoring of nicotine use in sport: frontier between potential performance enhancement and addiction issues.

Tobacco consumption is a global epidemic responsible for a vast burden of disease. With pharmacological properties sought-after by consumers and responsible for addiction issues, nicotine is the main reason of this phenomenon. Accordingly, smokeless tobacco products are of growing popularity in sport owing to potential performance enhancing properties and absence of adverse effects on the respiratory system. Nevertheless, nicotine does not appear on the 2011 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Prohibited List or Monitoring Program by lack of a comprehensive large-scale prevalence survey. Thus, this work describes a one-year monitoring study on urine specimens from professional athletes of different disciplines covering 2010 and 2011. A method for the detection and quantification of nicotine, its major metabolites (cotinine, trans-3-hydroxycotinine, nicotine-N'-oxide and cotinine-N-oxide) and minor tobacco alkaloids (anabasine, anatabine and nornicotine) was developed, relying on ultra-high pressure liquid chromatography coupled to triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-TQ-MS/MS). A simple and fast dilute-and-shoot sample treatment was performed, followed by hydrophilic interaction chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HILIC-MS/MS) operated in positive electrospray ionization (ESI) mode with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) data acquisition. After method validation, assessing the prevalence of nicotine consumption in sport involved analysis of 2185 urine samples, accounting for 43 different sports. Concentrations distribution of major nicotine metabolites, minor nicotine metabolites and tobacco alkaloids ranged from 10 (LLOQ) to 32,223, 6670 and 538 ng/mL, respectively. Compounds of interest were detected in trace levels in 23.0% of urine specimens, with concentration levels corresponding to an exposure within the last three days for 18.3% of samples. Likewise, hypothesizing conservative concentration limits for active nicotine consumption prior and/or during sport practice (50 ng/mL for nicotine, cotinine and trans-3-hydroxycotinine and 25 ng/mL for nicotine-N'-oxide, cotinine-N-oxide, anabasine, anatabine and nornicotine) revealed a prevalence of 15.3% amongst athletes. While this number may appear lower than the worldwide smoking prevalence of around 25%, focusing the study on selected sports highlighted more alarming findings. Indeed, active nicotine consumption in ice hockey, skiing, biathlon, bobsleigh, skating, football, basketball, volleyball, rugby, American football, wrestling and gymnastics was found to range between 19.0 and 55.6%. Therefore, considering the adverse effects of smoking on the respiratory tract and numerous health threats detrimental to sport practice at top level, likelihood of smokeless tobacco consumption for performance enhancement is greatly supported.

Àrab en línia (2)

Des que es va concedir l’ajut (juliol 2006) fins a dia d’avui (desembre 2007) l’equip que porta endavant el projecte Àrab en línia (http://www.ub.edu/luga/AeL) ha estat desenvolupant el projecte Àrab en línia (2). A més a més, s’ha constituït en Grup Luga d’Innovació Docent de la UB (http://www.ub.edu/luga), ja que hi ha la ferma voluntat de seguir treballant en la mateixa direcció, des de la convicció que és una iniciativa que dóna resultats a mitjà i llarg termini. Els objectius que es varen proposar (elaborar paquets d’exercicis de llengua àrab adreçats al 2n nivell; produir materials compatibles amb els crèdits europeus i les assignatures semipresencials; i dissenyar unes pràctiques homogènies per al primer i segon nivell de llengua àrab) han estat plenament assolits. Seguint la dinàmica prevista, primer es va estudiar el material didàctic que s’havia adquirit i es varen dissenyar nous exercicis. D’altra banda, es va començar a fer una primera anàlisi dels exercicis que ja estaven penjats a la xarxa, tot i que aquest aspecte es va considerar millorable, ja que no es va aconseguir establir un sistema d’enquestes, sinó que els usuaris es van posar en contacte amb l’equip de manera espontània. Gràcies al servei analític de la pàgina web es va detectar que moltes de les visites procedien d’arreu del món, de manera que es va tornar a dissenyar la pàgina per tal d’adaptar-la als nous continguts, però de la mateixa manera es volia que la interfície estigués disponible, igualment, en altres idiomes. D’aquesta manera, ha passat a ser un autèntic portal d’aprenentatge de la llengua àrab, més si es té en compte que, a més a més del que s’havia previst, s’han inclòs materials que comencen des de la lecto-escriptura, així com també una part teòrica que l’estudiant pot d’utilitzar abans de fer les pràctiques.

Aula matemàtica, 2a. part. : un projecte per a la millora de l'aprenentatge de les matemàtiques a la UAB

El projecte Aula Matemàtica consta de dues parts. 1. Elaborar un material d'autoaprenentatge en suport digital que cobreixi tots els temes de Matemàtiques de 1r. curs de les carreres de Ciències (Biologia, Química, etc.) i les Enginyeries. Aquest material, accessible des de qualsevol ordinador connectat a Internet, és una base de dades de problemes que els alumnes poden utilitzar per a treballar el temes explicats a classe, o be per cobrir deficiències a la seva formació pre-universitària. Al mateix temps, es poden realitzar exàmens, i els alumnes poden practicar amb els problemes d'examen. 2. Durant unes hores cada dia, oferir una (o diverses) aules d'informàtica al campus de la UAB amb presència de personal de suport (professors, o becaris de darrers cursos de matemàtiques o doctorat) per tal que els alumnes que vulguin (o necessitin) puguin practicar amb ajuda, i consultat els dubtes que tinguin. En la fase actual del projecte s’han fet les següents actuacions: 1. S’ha obert una aula d’informàtica amb suport de becaris a la facultat de Ciències, on a més de practicar els alumnes, s’han efectuat exàmens. 2. S’ha treballat en el programa per tal de fer-lo més amigable. 3. S’ha ampliat la base de problemes fins a 1450, i cobrir totes les assignatures de Matemàtiques i Estadística de 1r. curs de la facultat de Ciències i l’Escola Tècnica Superior d’Enginyeries. 4. S’ha començat a treballar per a la utilització del programa a Secundària. 5. S’han fet avanços molt importants per tal d’incorporar problemes amb resposta oberta. 6. El programa és accessible des de qualsevol ordenador amb Internet.

Prognostic accuracy of cerebral blood flow measurement by perfusion computed tomography, at the time of emergency room admission, in acute stroke patients.

The purpose of this study was to determine the prognostic accuracy of perfusion computed tomography (CT), performed at the time of emergency room admission, in acute stroke patients. Accuracy was determined by comparison of perfusion CT with delayed magnetic resonance (MR) and by monitoring the evolution of each patient's clinical condition. Twenty-two acute stroke patients underwent perfusion CT covering four contiguous 10mm slices on admission, as well as delayed MR, performed after a median interval of 3 days after emergency room admission. Eight were treated with thrombolytic agents. Infarct size on the admission perfusion CT was compared with that on the delayed diffusion-weighted (DWI)-MR, chosen as the gold standard. Delayed magnetic resonance angiography and perfusion-weighted MR were used to detect recanalization. A potential recuperation ratio, defined as PRR = penumbra size/(penumbra size + infarct size) on the admission perfusion CT, was compared with the evolution in each patient's clinical condition, defined by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS). In the 8 cases with arterial recanalization, the size of the cerebral infarct on the delayed DWI-MR was larger than or equal to that of the infarct on the admission perfusion CT, but smaller than or equal to that of the ischemic lesion on the admission perfusion CT; and the observed improvement in the NIHSS correlated with the PRR (correlation coefficient = 0.833). In the 14 cases with persistent arterial occlusion, infarct size on the delayed DWI-MR correlated with ischemic lesion size on the admission perfusion CT (r = 0.958). In all 22 patients, the admission NIHSS correlated with the size of the ischemic area on the admission perfusion CT (r = 0.627). Based on these findings, we conclude that perfusion CT allows the accurate prediction of the final infarct size and the evaluation of clinical prognosis for acute stroke patients at the time of emergency evaluation. It may also provide information about the extent of the penumbra. Perfusion CT could therefore be a valuable tool in the early management of acute stroke patients.